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 The White House said Katherine Archuleta had stepped down as head
of the Office of Personnel Management and that OPM was enhancing
cyber-security measures, such as limiting the number of "privileged
users" of computer data.
Archuleta, facing a chorus of demands from Congress for her ouster,
said in a statement she had told President Barack Obama it was "best
for me to step aside and allow new leadership to step in."
Beth Cobert, who works in the White House budget office, will become
acting OPM director, the White House said.
The departure of Archuleta will not fix OPM's serious cyber-security
weaknesses, which Obama administration officials conceded would take
months, possibly years, to address.
Republicans in Congress accused the administration of being
flat-footed on the growing problem of computer hacks. White House
spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters it was conducting a "rapid
assessment" of cyber security measures with the aim of accelerating
improvements.
 The latest hacking revelation at OPM, revealed on Thursday, followed
what the OPM called a "separate but related" computer incursion
involving the theft of data on 4.2 million current and former
federal workers.
Because many of the same people were affected by both hacks, the
total comes to about 22.1 million people, or almost 7 percent of the
U.S. population, making the incidents among the most damaging cyber
security breaches ever.
Social Security numbers and other sensitive data, including possibly
compromising secrets gathered for security clearances, were stolen
from OPM computers in the sweeping intrusions.
The United States has identified China as the leading suspect, but
China's Foreign Ministry has dismissed that as "absurd logic."
Archuleta's departure came a day after Republican House of
Representatives Speaker John Boehner issued a statement saying that
he had "no confidence" in OPM's current leadership.
On Friday, Boehner, citing chronic problems at the Veterans
Administration that led to the resignation of Secretary Eric
Shinseki last year, said a change in personnel did not always lead
to real change and Obama had to "repair" the OPM problems.
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Archuleta, a high-ranking official in Obama's 2012 re-election
campaign, was appointed to the top OPM job in May 2013 and sworn in
the following November, becoming the first Latina to head the
federal agency.
The computer hacks at OPM, coupled with computer glitches this week
that disrupted operations at both the New York Stock Exchange and
United Airlines, have raised serious concerns in Congress about the
security of major U.S. computer systems.
In a related matter, arrangements for granting security clearances
to employees and contractors have been seriously affected since a
computer system used to receive and process applications was turned
off temporarily on June 29, government security sources said.
The digital system, called E-QIP, had been the main platform through
which applicants submitted detailed information about their
background on a questionnaire known as Standard Form 86. The system
was shut down for security enhancements.
A source familiar with the process said there were now serious
problems handling the flow of paper forms, and concern that
digitizing them could expose them to the risk of hacking.
A senior Obama Administration official acknowledged that the process
had been "hindered" by the E-QIP shutdown but said the digital
system would be restored in four to six weeks.
(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan and Lisa Lambert; Editing by
Kevin Drawbaugh and Tom Brown)
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